#2 Purdue Basketball vs. #1 Arizona: Elite Eight Staff Predictions

No explanation needed here. It’s Saturday. It’s gameday. Elite Eight. Tonight. Let’s get into it.

Ledman:

If you read the Q&A I did over at Arizona Desert Swarm you already know my prediction. Or if you listened to the latest episode of the Boiler Alert podcast you know my prediction.

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I think this Purdue team can beat anyone. I’ve believed that since day one of this season. I’ve talked about it all year on the podcast and on this here very website. When this team is firing on all cylinders they are the best team in the country. I firmly believe that. We saw it in four games in four days at the Big Ten Tournament. We saw that especially in the game against Michigan. We saw them handle a full strength Texas Tech team. Purdue’s A game takes down anyone. Now, can they play their A game against an athletic and uber-talented Arizona team? Will the youth of the Arizona team, they start three freshmen, be overcome by the experience of Purdue? These are the key questions for me. I’ve ridden Purdue all the way and picked them in my bracket so I’ve gotta stick to it here.

Purdue 78, Arizona 75

Drew:

This is why I don’t gamble on sports. Arizona is the clear favorite for a myriad reasons, at the same time, I can’t not pick Purdue to win.

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So my prediction is a Purdue victory.

How the Boilermakers might go about winning is significantly above my pay grade, which is fine, that’s why we pay Matt Painter and his brain trust. My brain still feels like it got in a fight from last night’s stress induced binge drinking.

I’ll say this, Braden Smith hasn’t been the best player on the court in any game thus far. I’m pretty sure he’s going to need to reverse that trend, but who knows? If you told me Purdue would go 4/20 from behind the arc against Texas, I assume I would be working on a season retrospective today instead of an Arizona preview.

Just for fun:

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Purdue: 96

Arizona:92

Kyle:

Why stop now? Indianapolis has always been the…

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Publish date : 2026-03-28 12:25:00

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